We did a home improvement project! It wasn’t exactly a planned project. I had wanted to turn the home office into more of a home library, and that’s where it all started.

We took everything out of the room to repaint the floor. I had previously painted this floor, but it never looked good. The paint did not stick properly, and was coming up in areas. So, I scraped and cleaned the floor to try repainting it. I painted it using the same paint I had used on the floor in the home gym, which looks really good and we haven’t had problems with. After painting the floor, it did look good, but it was still coming up in areas. I gave up. I called a local flooring place that had done the wood floors in other areas of our home, and they installed wood floors for us. The floors look great. Really, it’s way better than a painted floor.

Oh, and since I had everything out of the room, I thought it would be a good time to repaint the walls. I painted the walls Behr Full Moon, which is the same color as our living room. The walls were fine and didn’t really need painting. They were painted with Behr Sparrow a few years ago, but I wanted it to be brighter, so went with a color I knew would really brighten the room.

After the walls were painted and the flooring was done, it was time to put in bookcases. I wanted a lot of bookcases, but I didn’t want to spend a lot of money. So, I went with the Ikea Billy bookcase. It’s a staple among bookhoarders booklovers everywhere. I like the look of the white bookcases, so we bought six of the regular bookcases and two of the narrow bookcases. We got the extension unit for all the bookcases to add extra height. After I assembled them and secured them to wall, they were ready to be filled with books.

Other than the bookcases, the only furniture in the room is the desk and chair that we already had. I would like to add a comfy chair. I’m not exactly sure what I want and where I want it, so that will have to wait.

I’m really happy with our new home library. I’ve been spending more time in this room, and it may be my favorite room in the house. We purchased more bookcases than we had books to fill, so we can continue to grow our library.

We started off March with Gavin running in a local 1K race. He ran the whole race and had lots of fun.

Gavin and I went with his Honey, my Mama, to a local quilt show. She’s a quilter, and it’s always nice to see all of the beautiful quilts. It’s not Gavin favorite activity, but he was a good boy and put up with us looking at quilts for an hour or so.

We finished fixing up our new home library. I’m really happy with how it came out, and have been enjoying having all the books in one room. I bought more bookshelves than I have books to fill, so I can continue to add to our collection. I will do a separate post on this home project in the coming weeks.

It’s been a fun and busy year. After our vacation to Hawaii in January, we were ready to do a few things around the house.

We had already hired someone to install a new front door for us. We had enough space to put a double front door, and we opted for solid wood. It looks great, and we’re happy with the new door.

We also did another home improvement project. It wasn’t exactly a planned project. I had wanted to turn the home office into more of a home library, and that’s where it all started. In the end, the room is now painted, has new flooring, and new bookcases. I will do a full blog post about this room when the bookcases are installed. I’m really excited about this room, and envision spending a lot of time enjoying it.

For Valentine’s Day, we enjoyed a night out. A local restaurant was offering a Valentine’s dinner, so we all got gussied up and went out. Plus, I got some beautiful roses from Michael.

Gavin is great at entertaining himself, but he also likes to be near me. While I was cleaning house one day, Gavin was set up with his chalkboard and chalk. He’s been improving his drawing skills, as in he attempts to actually draw something. One day, he drew a picture and told me is was a picture of me. He was so proud. Below is the photo I took of him and his artwork.

I have wanted to have a separate blog for all my bookish posts, and I have finally finished setting it up. If you are interested in books, then check out my new book blog Nightcap Books. I mainly post book reviews, but I also post my personal reading goals and updates.

We got a new front door! This has been on our to do list for a while, and we decided to do it last Fall. We picked the door and ordered it in October, but it didn’t come in until January. It took longer than expected, but we are really happy with the new door.

We had the old door and sidelights removed, and had a new double door installed. It’s nice to have a door that opens so wide. Next time we move furniture in and out will be a breeze. Plus, it looks amazing!

My birthday is in January, and this year was a big one, so I wanted to take a family vacation to celebrate. We traveled to Hawaii and had a fantastic time. I love beach vacations, and Hawaii was beautiful. We stayed on Oahu and Maui. I already posted about our trip, so click Oahu or Maui to read about our trip and see photos.

When we returned from vacation, we were in the mood to get a few home projects done. So, we focused on that for a little while. I’ll do separate posts about what we did when everything is finished.

We spent most of our Hawaiian vacation in Maui. We mainly wanted to relax and do fun family related activities, and Maui is great for that.

In Maui, we rented a two-bedroom condo located in Kihei. We had a great location, right across the street from the beach. The condo worked well for us because both bedrooms had king beds. Most condos I looked at had a king in one bedroom and two twins in the second bedroom. This one had a bedroom upstairs in a loft area, with a king bed and a private bathroom. The other bedroom was downstairs, as was the kitchen and living room area. Another perk was the lanai. Technically, both bedrooms had private lanais, but they looked back toward the condo complex, whereas the lanai off the living room was large and looked out toward the ocean.

We arrived in Maui on a Wednesday afternoon, and didn’t do much that day. We found the condo, unpacked, went out to eat dinner, and enjoyed a relaxing evening. In Maui, a rental car is necessary, so we booked a car for the week so could explore the island.

On our second day we picked my mother and stepfather up from the airport, they stayed an extra night in Oahu. After getting everyone settled in the condo, we decided to go shopping. Well, my mother, Gavin, and I went to a quilt shop for her to shop fabrics, and the guys (Michael and my stepfather) went to a brewery. After that, we stopped at the Kihei Kalama Village for shopping and dinner.

Friday was spent at the beach and ended with a luau. We walked across the street from the condo to go to the Kamaole Beach III and spent the day there. Friday night we went to the Old Lahiana Luau. It was a fun experience, and something we all enjoyed.

Saturday got off to a rocky start. That was the morning the missile alert message was sent out. So, we saw that on our phones, and tried to verify if it was real or not. We never panicked or anything. I did try calling a couple of police stations, but never got through – guess we weren’t the only ones calling. We turned on the local news because the national news wasn’t reporting anything, and the local news announced it was a false alert, so we went back to drinking our morning coffee and enjoying the view. It was still a little while before we got phone alerts that the first message was an error. Anyway, we never really did anything that day. I went for a long walk by myself down the beach. I walked along Keawakapu Beach, Mokapu Beach, and Ulua Beach. It was beautiful, and I enjoyed a nice, long walk along the beach.

On Sunday, Michael, Gavin, and I went to Lahaina. We did a whale watching boat trip, walked around town, and had lunch. It’s a great town to walk, and had plenty of restaurants and shops. Also, there was a big harbor there, and a lot of the boat tours left from that harbor.

Monday morning was a very early start. We got up really early to drive up to Haleakala National Park to watch the sunrise. It was a beautiful sunrise, but Gavin did not like it. He was sleepy, and it’s really cold, so he wasn’t having it.

That afternoon we drove over to Big Beach, also known as Makena Beach and Oneloa Beach. It’s the widest beach we went to. There was a serious shore break, so swimming was a little more dangerous on this beach than some of the others we visited.

Tuesday was our last full day in Maui, and we drove over to Paia. We wanted to visit somewhere on the north side of the island, and this town seemed like a good choice. We walked around town, visited some shops, and ate lunch. On the way out of town, we stopped at Hookipa Beach. We parked the car, and Michael and I walked a little on the beach while Gavin waited in the car with his Honey and Pappaw. This is definitely not a swimming beach, but there were some kiteboarders out. This is also the only place we saw sea turtles.

We went to Hawaii to celebrate my birthday. I turned the big 4-0, and wanted to take a trip to celebrate. Since I had never been to Hawaii, and beach vacations are always relaxing, a Hawaiian vacation sounded perfect. We stayed on two islands, Oahu and Maui. This post is about Oahu, and a second post will be about our time in Maui.

We traveled from Dallas to Honolulu, Oahu, and stayed in Honolulu for three nights. We arrived on a Sunday evening, so that day was a long travel day. My mother and stepfather traveled with us, so them and us (Michael, Gavin, and me), were all exhausted.

We didn’t have anything scheduled for our first day in Oahu. I figured we would be tired from the long day before, and not up for too much activity. So, we walked over to Waikiki Beach and checked out the beach, had a leisurely lunch, and did a little shopping.

On our second day, we went to Pearl Harbor. We went in the afternoon, and had plenty of time to see the USS Arizona Memorial and USS Bowfin submarine and museum. We didn’t go to the USS Missouri or the Pacific Aviation Museum. We didn’t want to schedule too much, since we were traveling with a three-year-old.

We had fun sightseeing in Waikiki, but only spent a couple of days there. I’m glad we spent some time in Honolulu because Pearl Harbor was special to see. Most of our trip was spent in Maui, where we spent a week.

We had a fun December. Getting ready for Christmas is always fun with Gavin. Hanging out with a three-year-old is a sure fire way to get into the spirit of the season.

We went to see Santa twice. Once at a Breakfast with Santa and once at the mall. Gavin does great with Santa. All smiles. So, we got two cute pics with Santa this year.

Now that Gavin is a little older, I wanted to start an Advent tradition with him. Since we read a lot of books, I thought a bookish Advent would be great for us. I wrapped up 24 Christmas and winter themed books, and Gavin opened one each night and we read it. I didn’t have a particular order for the books, so we read which ever one he picked. It was a fun new tradition for us, so I think we will continue to do it in the future.

While sitting in the pew, waiting for Mass to begin on Christmas Eve with Gavin, this happened:
Gavin: Ladies and Gentlemen.
Gavin: (a little louder) Ladies and Gentlemen.
Me: Shh.
Gavin: (holding Hymnal) Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to read you a story.
Me: (whispering) No talking. Be quiet or we’ll have to step outside.
Gavin: I’m talking to the Gentlemen.
Me: (whispering) That’s it. Let’s go.
Gavin: Sorry, Gentlemen.

Sometimes it’s hard to keep a straight face. As a side note, we were really early, so it was asking a lot for a three-year-old to sit in silence for that long, and still last through Mass. Also, fortunately the people around us were more amused than irritated by our chatty boy.

We had a very low-key November. We stuck to our favorite activities: parks, library, and staying in. I didn’t take any photos this month, except for our trip to Hot Springs, AR.

We went to Hot Springs for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed our time visiting with family, and we went on a few fun outings.

We did the National Park Duck Tour, which was a first for us. It was neat to ride through town and then out on the lake. It was one of those fun for one time things, so I doubt we will do it again.

Gavin also got to go on the lake when his Grandpa took him for a ride in a boat.

One of our favorite things was Garvan Gardens. They were decorated for Christmas, and it was spectacular. We went on the Friday night after Thanksgiving… we were not the only ones with that plan. We must have waited in the car line for 45 minutes before being able to park, and go wait in line to buy tickets. They were well organized and kept the flow going, but they were very busy. Due to the large crowds, they stayed open later so everyone would have enough time to see the decorated gardens. Michael and I had been to Garvan Gardens once before for the Christmas lights, but it was Gavin’s first time. We walked the entire gardens, and I think Gavin had a lot of fun looking at the lights.

One of our favorite stops while in Hot Springs is the Superior Bathhouse Brewery. They have a lot of beer on tap, and it’s always fun to try some new ones. The food is good, and we like to sit at the counter seats by the window and people watch while we enjoy our food and drinks.

We enjoy walking around downtown Hot Springs. The shops are fun to check out, and we like to go in the Arlington Hotel and see the gingerbread house. We always stop at the hot springs and marvel at how hot the water is. A fun town to wander around and enjoy a stroll and some people watching.

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year. It’s fun to dress in costumes and go out to celebrate, and it’s even more fun with a little kid. Gavin loved Halloween this year. He was really into all the spooky decorations. It seemed all the stores we shopped had ghosts and monsters on display, which Gavin thought was fun and it was all he wanted to talk about while we shopped.

We celebrated a few different Halloween events this year. First up was the library storytime. The kids could dress up and they received a free book. A fun event, and all the kids dressed up were really cute. Gavin dressed as an astronaut. He loves space stuff and we had bought the astronaut suit earlier in the year when we went to NASA.

Next was a Halloween event at a local brewery. We dressed as pirates, another of Gavin’s favorite pretend play characters. The event was fun, they were selling food and had live music.

The last Halloween event was trick or treating. We had planned to go as pirates, but the weather turned cold and rainy. Since Gavin’s astronaut costume was warmer than his pirate costume, he went as an astronaut. Michael and I usually wear something to coordinate with Gavin’s costume, so since he changed costumes, we did too. The family costume was an astronaut and two aliens. Gavin had a blast trick or treating, and he keeps talking about it.